The Socialist Party (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Partido Socialista'', PS) was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

(

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

)

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. This Socialist Party was established on 1 May 1971 by the merger of three small parties (''Acción Popular'', ''Frente de Liberación Nacional'' (FLIN) and ''Grupo FARO'') supporting the former military Co-President (1964–1966) and the President (1966, 1969–1970) General

Alfredo Ovando Candía Alfredo Ovando Candia (6 April 1918 – 24 January 1982) was a Bolivian military officer and political leader who served as the 48th president of Bolivia from 1965 to 1966 and 1969 to 1970. During his first term, he shared power with René Bar ...

, who had been deposed by a radical left-wing faction on 6 October 1970. Led by Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz, Mario Miranda Pacheco, Alberto Bailey Gutiérrez, and Guillermo Aponte Burela. The Socialist Party declared itself to be

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and independent of Soviet or Chinese influence, favoring popular anti-imperialist unity, directed by the working class, which would end domestic injustice and foreign intervention. The PS's basic ideas differed little from those of the left wing of the

Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( , MNR) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Bolivia. It was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenced much of the country's history since 19 ...

, or of the

Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left The Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left (, PRIN) was a left-wing political party in Bolivia. It was founded in 1963 by the labor leader Juan Lechín Oquendo and by Mario Torres Calleja and Edwin Moller in lesser roles. The PRIN seceded f ...

, except that greater stress was placed on the proletariat's "directive" role, and on the word "Socialism" itself, by the Socialist Party. What the Socialist Party sought to offer that other parties perhaps could not was responsible leadership, prepared to act on declared principles rather than in the service of personal ambitions. Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz, in particular, had established a deserved reputation for honesty and courage during the President

René Barrientos René Emilio Barrientos Ortuño (30 May 1919 – 27 April 1969) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 47th president of Bolivia from 1964 to 1966 and 1966 to 1969. During his first term, he shared power with Alfred ...

years, when he had several times been arrested and imprisoned by the police. Having supported the left-wing regime of General

Juan José Torres Juan José Torres González (5 March 1920 – 2 June 1976) was a Bolivian socialism, socialist politician and military leader who served as the 50th president of Bolivia from 1970 to 1971, when he was ousted in a coup that resulted in the ...

without being in the Government, the Socialist Party opposed the

Hugo Banzer Suárez Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again ...

regime, and returned to the political scene in

only after

Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again ...

's fall in 1978. The Socialist Party split in February 1978, with its then leader, Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz, departing to form the Socialist Party-One. The original Socialist Party (right-wing section) chose Guillermo Aponte Burela as its leader. In March 1979, Sabino Tito Atahuichi split from the Socialist Party-Aponte and founded the Socialist Party-Atahuichi.

The Socialist Party-One

The Socialist Party-One took part in the 1978, 1979, and 1980 general elections, running Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz and polled 00.43, 04.82 and 08.71 per cent of the vote, respectively. The party won five seats in National Congress in 1979 and eleven in 1980. Some elements in the conservative military feared Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz's potential following as an opposition leader and he was killed during the

Luis García Meza Tejada Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

coup of 17 July 1980. His death leaves his Socialist Party-One – and Bolivian left-wing politics generally – in a greatly weakened condition. In 1984 the Socialist Party-One absorbed the small ultra-left “Spartacist Revolutionary Movement” (Movimiento Revolucionario Espartaco, MRE), led by Dulfredo Rua. The Socialist Party-One presented Ramiro Velasco Romero as its candidate in the 1985 elections, but he won only 02.58 per cent of the vote, coming sixth. The party won five seats in National Congress. In the 1989 elections the Party presented Roger Cortez Hurtado and he won 2.8 per cent of the vote. In 1993 the Socialist Party-One took part in an electoral coalition United Left backing Ramiro Velasco Romero, a leader of the PS-1. He won only 0.9 per cent of the vote. There is also a dissident Socialist Party-One-Marcelo Quiroga, led by

José María Palacios José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

The Socialist Party-Aponte

In 1978 the Socialist Party-Aponte took part in an electoral coalition

Democratic and Popular Union Democratic and Popular Unity Party ( Spanish: ''Unidad Democrática y Popular'') was a Bolivian umbrella political alliance. It existed from 1977 to 1984. It was formed in 1977 by former president Hernán Siles Zuazo and consisted chiefly of Siles ...

backing

Hernán Siles Zuazo Hernán Siles Zuazo (21 March 1914 – 6 August 1996) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 46th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1956 to 1960 and from 1982 to 1985. He also briefly served as interim president in April 1952 ...

. In 1980 the Socialist Party-Aponte took part in an electoral coalition Democratic Revolutionary Front-New Alternative backing

Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas (21 June 1925 – 19 October 2005) was a Bolivian jurist, lawyer, politician, and human rights activist who served as the 49th president of Bolivia from April to September 1969. He previously served as the 31st vice ...

. After the coup d'état on 17 July 1980 the Socialist Party-Aponte disappeared.

The Socialist Party-Atahuichi

In 1979 and 1980 the Socialist Party-Atahuichi took part in an electoral coalition

backing

.Elections in the Americas : a data handbook / ed. by Dieter Nohlen, Vol. 2. xford .a. Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. P.151. After the coup d'état on 17 July 1980 the Socialist Party-Aponte disappeared.

Notes

{{reflist Defunct political parties in Bolivia Political parties established in 1971 Socialist parties in Bolivia